Herbert Parsons Patterson
Herbert Parsons Patterson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 September 1925 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | 29 January 1985 (aged 59) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Banker |
| Known for | President of Chase Manhattan Bank |
Herbert Parsons Patterson (September 3, 1925 – January 29, 1985) was a prominent American banker who held the position of president at Chase Manhattan Bank.
Early life
Born in New York City on September 3, 1925, Patterson was the second son of Morehead Patterson, who served as president and chairman of American Machine and Foundry, and Elsie (Parsons) Patterson. His older brother, Rufus Lenoir Patterson III, served as a Lieutenant in the USAAF and was killed during World War II. Following his parents’ divorce in 1929, his mother remarried John Drummond Kennedy in 1934.
His paternal lineage includes Rufus L. Patterson Jr., founder of AMF, and Margaret Warren (Morehead), a descendant of North Carolina Governor John Motley Morehead. On his maternal side, his grandparents were U.S. Representative Herbert Parsons and Elsie Clews Parsons, herself the daughter of financier Henry Clews and Lucy Madison Worthington, who was related to President James Madison.
Patterson completed his secondary education at the Groton School in 1942 before earning a bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1948. During World War II, he served as a junior officer in the U.S. Navy within the Pacific theater.
Career
Patterson began his banking career at Chase Manhattan Bank in 1949 and remained with the institution throughout his professional life. Advancing from assistant manager to executive vice president, he ascended to the presidency in 1968 when David Rockefeller assumed the roles of chairman and CEO. He held trustee responsibilities at the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, participated as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and contributed to the Mayor's Fiscal Advisory Committee. In 1972, amidst challenges including reduced profitability and competitive pressures, he was succeeded by Willard C. Butcher and subsequently departed from the bank.
Following his tenure at Chase, Patterson acted as a financial advisor for Marshalsea Associates before establishing his own consulting firm, the Stonover Company, in 1977. Additionally, he served on the board of AMF, a corporation founded by his grandfather and later managed by his father.
Personal life
In July 1949, Patterson married Louise Sargent (Oakey) McVeigh (1925–1968), an operatic soprano, at the River Club. Louise was previously married to David Malcolm McVeigh and was the daughter of Francis Oakey of New York and Southampton. Their daughter, Katheryn Clews Patterson, graduated from Harvard Law School and married Thomas L. Kempner Jr., co-founder of Davidson Kempner Capital Management, in 1979.
After Louise’s passing in 1968, Patterson remarried in 1970 to Patricia (Shepard) Norris (1925–2016). Patricia, a Stanford alumna and former spouse of Bruce A. Norris (owner of the Detroit Red Wings), was the daughter of Chester Ames Shephard, a real estate investor based in New York and Pebble Beach.
Patterson belonged to both the Racquet and Tennis Club and the Lenox Club. He passed away due to pulmonary failure on January 29, 1985, at his residence in New York City. His funeral took place in New York before he was privately interred in Lenox, Massachusetts, where he had served as a trustee for the Lenox Library.
Following his death, Stonover—the family estate in Lenox originally designed for his great-grandfather John Edward Parsons—was sold and currently operates as a bed and breakfast.
References
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